Business

Image copyright Getty Images One in six roads across England and Wales are in such a bad state they must be repaired within the next five years, according to local authorities. The Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance survey (ALARM) found that 17% of roads were in “poor” condition. The government is planning to invest £1.2bn […]

Image copyright Reuters Image caption Bill Gross has been nicknamed the “Bond King” from making good bets on US Treasury bonds Star trader Bill Gross has ended a “family disagreement” with his former firm Pimco, in a settlement worth an estimated $81m (£65m). The billionaire, dubbed Wall Street’s “Bond King”, sued Pimco after his abrupt […]

Image copyright Royal Mint The new 12-sided £1 coin – which comes into circulation on Tuesday – has a hidden security feature to make it difficult to counterfeit. It is thought to involve material inside the coin itself which can be detected when electronically scanned by coin-counting or payment machines. But officials at the Royal […]

Image copyright Getty Images One of Tesco’s biggest shareholders is urging the supermarket to drop a £3.7bn takeover of food wholesaler Booker amid claims it is paying too much. In a letter to Tesco’s chairman John Allan, Schroders said the “high price” being paid for Booker would destroy value for investors. The deal brings together […]

Image copyright Twitter Image caption Maurer was honoured by her co-workers and customers last Thursday A 94-year-old American is celebrating more than four decades of working at McDonald’s restaurants. Loraine Maurer of Evansville, Indiana, works two shifts per week, 44 years after joining the hamburger chain. The nonagenarian great-grandmother first joined in 1973 after her […]

Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Margarethe Vestager cleared Dow’s merger with DuPont The European Commission has given the go-ahead to the merger of US chemical giants Dow Chemical and DuPont. The deal values the merged company at $130bn (£103bn) and is expected to lead to cost savings of $3bn. The EC’s approval is dependent […]

Image copyright AFP The UK’s biggest banks have been told to prepare for a wide range of challenges, as part of the Bank of England’s latest stress tests. One key test will be to prove they can manage any sudden slowdown in foreign interest in UK assets. The banks will have to show they have […]

Image copyright Hurricane Energy An oil exploration firm has made what it has described as the “largest undeveloped discovery” of oil in UK waters. Hurricane Energy said one billion barrels of oil could be contained within the Greater Lancaster Area, 60 miles (97km) west of Shetland. The company hopes to begin production in 2019. Dr […]

Image copyright Premier Oil Image caption The deal will see the Wood Group provide maintenance for the Solan field which lies about 85 miles west of Shetland, as well as the Balmoral FPV Oil Services company Wood Group has secured a £40m contract to deliver energy services to two North Sea platforms. The two-year deal […]

Image copyright Getty Images UK shares started the week lower as the pound jumped to a seven-week high against the US dollar. The dollar was weaker against most currencies following the defeat of Donald Trump’s planned healthcare reforms on Friday. Analysts say the failure to push the reforms through has raised questions over whether Mr […]

Image copyright Getty Images Image caption The franchise will run from August for seven years A Chinese company is to help operate one of the biggest rail franchises in the UK, the government has announced. MTR has been awarded the franchise to run South West Trains (SWT) with First Group for seven years from August. […]

Image copyright Getty Images Sir James Dyson has said UK business success lies beyond Europe because that is where the fastest growth lies. The billionaire, who was a prominent backer of Brexit, told the BBC he was “enormously optimistic” about trading with the rest of the world. His comments came as his engineering firm Dyson […]